Cristian Gabarrini is a chief mechanic who counts in the MotoGP paddock in general and at Ducati in particular, having worked alongside Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and now Pecco Bagnaia. In short, when he is in the box, the world title is not far away and he has just, with the Italian, doubled the stakes this year. A performance which is promised for tomorrow, as the technician assures: Pecco Bagnaia is not yet at his full potential...
Cristian Gabarrini is the archetype of the chief mechanic in Grand Prix: discreet, calm, hardworking and always dedicated, it is the shadow that the driver always seeks under the pressure of competition. An osmosis that the technician readily validates by presenting his champion as follows: “ from a personal point of view, I immediately noticed that Pecco was a good guy. Very calm and very polite. Technically he was very fast on new tires and that was important for qualifying. But he had problems with worn tires and had a lot to learn when tires wore out ».
An essential step that bagnaia managed to cross, and which is not within the reach of the first of his talented colleagues: “ I was and still am impressed by the way he can adapt his driving style to the conditions. When he joined the Pramac Ducati team he was not a late braker. Now he is very strong with the brakes and fast with the old tires. This is not normal and can't be expected of all drivers. But he was able to adjust a few things to his riding style, which helped him a lot ».
Cristian Gabarrini: “ Pecco Bagnaia is very easy to work with, he is a calm, polite and attentive guy »
A progression that Gabarrini thus analyzes speedweek : " it grew from the beginning. But when he joined the Ducati factory team, he took a big step forward. And it is still in development. Sometimes he does something we didn't expect. This is how he manages to surprise us, even if we think we already know his level. Then during the next race he does something unexpected and this proves that he is still learning as a pilot ».
He ends with the working method established in the box Ducati : " it is he, as pilot, who makes the decisions. He never puts pressure on me. The pressure is related to my job and comes from many things, like championship position. But as I said, he is very easy to work with, he is a calm, polite and attentive guy. He may say "no" from time to time, but then he may say "yes" after thinking about it. The ideal couple, is when the two understand each other perfectly. Whenever this happens, you are the perfect couple. This is my case with Pecco ».
